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A look inside of Toys For Tots Twin Cities Mall of America warehouse headquarters
Mall of America donated retail space for Toys For Tots Twin Cities warehouse.
BLOOMINGTON, Minn. — Santa’s workshop isn’t the only place working overtime to make the holiday season merry. The elves at the new Toys For Tots Twin Cities headquarters have different uniforms.
For the first time in the program’s history, Toys For Tots has a dedicated space at the Mall of America to collect, sort and box donations.
Mall of America donated 50,000 square feet of retail space, a donation that makes a major difference, according to Toys for Tots Twin Cities campaign coordinator Staff Sgt. Tyree Stevens.
“We have our day jobs, you know, operational forces during the day and then we’re turn into Santa’s elves at night, “Stevens said. “Mall of America’s donation is well over $100,000. We get to put those resources back in to our overall goal of giving back.
“We couldn’t be more thrilled to have them part of our Mall of America family this holiday season,” said Mall of America Director of community Relations Sara Durhman. “We’re able to come together and donated nearly 400 toys to get them started!”
In the southeast court on Level 1, boxes of new toys and constant flowing shift of Marine volunteers are doing their best to achieve a new giving goal this year.
“When I first took over, they collected 206,000 toys and we collected 240 after. That’s not enough for me,” Stevens said. “I know there’s people out there who need toys. So the goal is to hit 300,000.”
“I know we’re already 30% ahead of our numbers from last year, as far as our income for distribution. So that’s been it’s been a blessing,” assistant coordinator Sgt. Elle Mckinzie said.
Stevens said it is going to take as many donations as possible to surpass the 300,000 toy goal. He believes the mission behind the work makes all of the effort worth it.
“So I think it’s absolutely amazing that the families come here to go grab those toys so we can see that we can remind ourselves every year why we do this,” Stevens said.
Anyone who would like to contribute to the the 2023 Toys for Tots campaign can drop off a new, unwrapped toy at KARE 11 until Dec. 13.
Daily tent hours are 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. KARE 11 is located at the corner of Olsen Memorial Highway and General Mills Boulevard in Golden Valley.
For more information, click here.
Police are investigating after three men were shot early on Saturday morning.
MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis police are investigating after three men were shot in the Ventura Village neighborhood early Saturday morning.
According to Minneapolis police, officers were called to the area around East 21st Street and South 15th Avenue around 5 a.m. Saturday.
Officers found three men had been shot. One of the men died and the two others were taken to the hospital with what police described as life-threatening injuries.
Officials said the shooting happened at a small homeless encampment.
Police have not announced any arrests as of Saturday morning.
KARE 11 will update this story as more information is made available.
This Halloween the chocolate shop is getting very festive.
MARINE ON SAINT CROIX, Minn. — A small sweet shop in a Minnesota river town has won some BIG awards for its chocolates.
St. Croix Chocolate Company in Marine on St. Croix has won national and international awards including Best of Show in this year’s America’s Division of the International Chocolate Awards.
Their chocolates are available at the St. Croix Chocolate Company kitchen or online.
This Halloween they are selling a Halloween Countdown Calendar that features 14 prize-winning recipes made into ghosts, bats, skulls and other spooky configurations. They also have a Boo Bag-handled tote that comes with their “best of” Halloween assortment.
Owner and Chocolatier, Robyn Dochterman, joined KARE 11 Saturday to share what St. Croix Chocolate Company has to offer.
MINNEAPOLIS — Making pasta at home is relatively simple, as long as you have the right tools.
October is National Pasta Month and Red Rabbit‘s Corporate Chef, Adam Lerner, joined KARE 11 Saturday to show us how to make homemade noodles in the confines of your own kitchen.
